Imperial acts also for review

Press, 23 April 1979, Page 5

Imperial acts also for review

PA Wellington It was difficult to decide what Imperial acts of Parliament still applied to New Zealand, what they said, and what they meant, said the Minister of Justice (Mr McLay). “Such a state of affairs is inconsistent with the aims of easy access and readability,” he said, when giving further details of the proposed review of old Parliamentary acts and regulations. He has asked the Law Reform Council, of which he is chairman, to make the review Mr McLav said a complete list of Imperial acts of Parliament (inherited English acts) in force in New Zealand had never been prepared and this

needed to be done. Although it was difficult to say what some of the Imperial acts meant, some were of considerable importance to New Zealand, Mr McLay said. Some did not readily lend themselves to modern transcription. "Any such attempt could be considered almost sacriligious,” he said. "This would obviously apply to such enactments as the various acts affirming the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights.” The Law Reform Council has agreed to review all public acts of Parliament passed more than 50 years ago. It will also review statutory regulations made before 1936 and still in force.